Measurement and Analysis of the Parameters of Modern Long-Range Thermal Imaging Cameras

Today’s long-range infrared cameras (LRIRC) are used in many systems for the protection of critical infrastructure or national borders. The basic technical parameters of such systems are noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD); minimum resolvable temperature difference (MRTD); and the range of detection, recognition and identification of selected objects (DRI). This paper presents a methodology of the theoretical determination of these parameters on the basis of technical data of LRIRCs. The first part of the paper presents the methods used for the determination of the detection, recognition and identification ranges based on the well-known Johnson criteria. The theoretical backgrounds for both approaches are given, and the laboratory test stand is described together with a brief description of the methodology adopted for the measurements of the selected necessary characteristics of a tested observation system. The measurements were performed in the Accredited Testing Laboratory of the Institute of Optoelectronics of the Military University of Technology (AL IOE MUT), whose activity is based on the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. The measurement results are presented, and the calculated ranges for a selected set of IR cameras are given, obtained on the basis of the Johnson criteria. In the final part of the article, the obtained measurement results are presented together with an analysis of the measurement uncertainty for 10 LRIRCs. The obtained measurement results were compared to the technical parameters presented by the manufacturers.